SOCIAL MEDIA REALITY CHECK

How to Consciously Consume Media

Based on enlightening lectures from Professor Maria Grabe at The Media School at Indiana University

Grace Leverich
The Unfair Advantage
4 min readOct 2, 2022

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Image created on Canva

Hi Medium family! I apologize for my absence. I began my 3rd year of college, with a plan to graduate in Spring 2023, so life has been busy!

One of my current courses, “Media Psychology,” is quite thought-provoking. It’s about how human beings are psychologically impacted by the media and how media producers engage so many users.

Based on the information taught, there are several ways to consciously consume media. To summarize, I will focus on two key points: automaticity and media literacy. I will further elaborate on these points by describing typical processes used to interpret information.

Table of Contents

  • Automaticity (Automatic Mode)
  • Media Literacy (Conscious Mode)
  • How we process information
  • Key Takeaways

Automaticity — Automatic Mode

Automaticity describes how humans tune things out to prevent sensory overload. Everyone does it; it’s an unconscious form of self-regulation.

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Grace Leverich
The Unfair Advantage

I write about self improvement, social injustices, physical/mental health and anything that inspires me.